fACI[lC The American air Forces based on the - Philippines and on China now overlap in the territor they cover. This ■ eeting of spheres of action waa accomplished when planes bas e d on the Philippines bombed the Jape in the region of For ■ oaa. Aaerican air power baaed on China bas previously been atrikin& froa both aides. And For■ osa is one of the ■oat i ■portant of targets, the site of great sea and air bases -- bases from which the ene ■ y conquest of the Philippines waa launched. Preau ■ ably the planes ■ entioned in tonight'• MacArthur co ■■ unique flew froa ne•l1 invaded Mindoro I~land. They sank ships off For■oaa, and shot down four Japanese planes tha~ tried to interfere. at the aa ■e ti ■ e, MacArthur's air aquadrona continued their heavy blows against Jap war center• on Luzon, t:aa principal island of the Philippines, and a future Aaerican goal. Here come the Japanese talking about a secret weapon. Hitherto the Nazis have been the specialists in muttering about mysterious instruaenta of war and it hasn't been all talk. Now their partners, the Japs come forward with a claia that they have doped out a secret weapon that will give thea coaaand.of the skies over the Pacific Ocean. Tokio says it's a kind of new fangle~ rocket boab, " which will do all sorts of terrifying things. It isn't clear how rocket bombs could do ■ inate the skies over the vast Pacific, but that's what the Japa are saying. At the saae tiae we hear of an Aaerican idea - something weird and terrifying that was suggested to bring about the defeat of Japan. A man-made earth.-a was proposed. But the scheme w a s never tried out. It . seems like an item for the real ■ of fantasy, but it is now disclosed in Washington that, earlier in the war, serious consideration was given to the project SECRET WEAPON - 2 ------ or producing an earthquake that would wreck Japanese centers or war industry. It is well known that the islands or tJe far eastern ene~y are subject to disastrous quakes, ~ .. "'---t-G_ ~ -4-o~.., there beinl.off the Japanese coast 1 a fault in the /'- surface of the eatll -- the kind of geological fault that causes violent treaors. And the proposal was made in Washington to cause a Yiolent Japanese earthquake by jarring the ubderlying rocks with huge explosions. According to the plan, tremendoua charge• of high explosiYe would be touched off at key points -- and these ould cause aove ■ enta of the crust of the earth off Japan. Violent quakes . would result, which would shake down Japanese war industries. Top ranking scientist ■ were consulted, and gave the opinion that in theory the plan might be feasible. One of the most vigorous proponents of the p theory was Leo Renney, and engineer of world wide ECRET EAPQ! - 3 reputation who drove the world's first horizontal oil well. Be was convinced that the defeat of Japan could be brought about bJ an earthquake. However, it was pointed out that the scheme would require enormous amounts of explosives carried in many ships to water• just off the Japanese coast -- which would make it too risk7. So the plan was dropped. Recently, the Japs did have an earthquake and it happened on December seventh lut, the third anniversary of Pearl Barbor. And so ■e people who had known about the earthquake-plan suspected it had been put into effect on Pearl Barbor anniversary. Bo ever. we are aqsured that the recent Japanese quake was entirely the doing of ~at~e,alone and unassisted. It was nature's own contribution to the - war effort of the United la~ions. 0 ~ w - c . ~ q , ~ W ~ ~ , ~ -e...,__,..._ ~ ~ - +c....Q. • Our supposition of last night iJ strengthened by the news tonight - the belief that the series of aaall attacks aade by the Nazis in Al1ace aight be a preliminary to a new Geraan offensive alon1 the southern sector of the leatern Front. northward to the Saar Valley, and later news toda7 told of four violent eneay assaults launched in • the Saari in aoae places the Razia driv;1rorward for as auch as two miles. More and ■ ore, it would seea as if the enea7 ■ izai■fJ ■ trateg7 were now to draw back in the Belgiaa salient and switch the offensive to the south, the idea being - stopped in one place, 7ou lunge forward in another. Fro ■ the ••••J big salient in Belgiu ■, •• have late news - with events brought down to date. A dispatch tonight tells us that Supre ■e Allied Headquarters baa called off the thirty-six hour tiae lag. ) - SUBSTITUTE LEAL _ E ~ Ilil-1:ROll _ 2 All along, because of military secrecy, the Army has held back the•• news of the Geraan offensive that broke through. Some times we were told nothing later than events forty-eight hours old. lore C- re"'ently, the time lag was thirty-six hours. low, all that is abolished and hereafter headquarters dispatches will bring the situation down to date each day. The tiae la g was put on when ~~, things dangerous; that were a1114~c,.., we can aaauae its reaoval ■ eana that f e criai1 has passed on the tront of the Belgian lo what do salient. ~ ~ tl, "'4,.,... .x .. - we see there~ The Raz ia in troa the western tip of the bulge that Aaerican troopa, aaaixa1ai have lost contact. That is, the heavy German armored forces are withdrawing so rapidly that the Americans have not been able to catch up with them and are encountering nothing more than rear guard resistance by parties of infantry. This withdrawal seems to be forced by the progress that Patton's Third Army troops are making ~ in the area of Bastogne1 "they are widening and deepening ~ - '- i■■ p■ aai ■&~the wedge,~ they drove to that town. - ---- Today's news tells of the capture nine more villages salient, and trap to the lest. So that•a German z■ *zi retreat is acco ■panied by signs that the Bitler command is consolidating its forces, its strength for another try - and that try ■ ay be - going on right now - in the Saar and Alsace. ---------1 Once again the news tells of tremendous air •• action - the weather still being good. Today, more than sixteen hundred and fifty American planes based on Britain assailed German communications - the Britain- based aar planes joining with other swarms et wllied that took off from flying fields in France. The ■ igbty surge of allied air power hit the Geraans - in the salient - and also gave due attention to the front farther south. Today saw air ~ction to forestall the possibility of a shift of Ger ■ an ~ strength fro• the aaliej for a new offensive. ~ LO§SES A somber account of battle on the Western Front f ■■ co ■ ea from United Press correspondent Boyd Lewis, •ho warns us we ■ ust be prepared for news of heavy losses. Be tells bow German tactics are calculated to result in large American casualties, while the German loas of life is less -- ene ■y soldier• becoaing prisoners. •The German soldier•, he writes, •is the beat defensive soldier in the world, and bis co ■■ ander is a ruthless realiat. They know they can hold out to the bitter end, killing and killing and killing. -~ Then when the last bullet has been fired, the7 have ,,,,,,, only to come over to our lines, with their hands clasped ~t:G,.,.. on their heads, shouting, •kamerad• ' . A ~ spend the rest of the war, better fed, housed and cared for than in Germany•. All of which leads the OP ■■ correspondent to thi6 bitter conclusio~, •dead Amedcans for German prisoners!, he writes. He tells of an American officer•who fought LOSSIL - 2 on Guadalcanal, and •~o aaya he prefer• the ■etho4a of the Jape to those of the Geraana. The knife war of the Pacific, declare• thi1 officer, ia not a• bad as the tricky battle that the lazi1 put up. Caaualtiea in the Pacific 1t7le of fightin1 are ~ far li1hter - tbouah few priaon•/ are taken on either aide. RUSSIA The devastating aiege of Budapest goes on. Red Aray troop• today captured two hundred and ninety-fi•e aore city ~l• ■■ kJ blocks, and now control half of the Bungar:an capita~ighty thouaand Ger■ana are aaid to be trapped in Budapeat, and they are putting up a sa•aae house-to-houae, roo ■ -by-roo ■, battle. At the•••• ti ■ e, Ger ■ an forces to tbe le1t ha•• been launching drivea to break through--■ and relieYe the aarriaon at Budapest. These have been repelled - ••1• loacow. President RooseYelt gave a hint toda7 that another in prospect. Rooa~velt-Churchill-Stalin conterenc•~• Talking to n••• ■ en, be wouldn't ••1 anything auch about ti ■ e or place, exce~t that a ■ eeting of the big three ■ i1ht be expected aooa, The President adaitted that difference• ha4 ariaen between the United States, Great Britain •4 So•i•t Ruaaia, but added that they were disagree ■ enta about details and not a conflict of principles • ......_ enta, people to*•• i a ,. London chi ■ea in with ao ■ e word along thl• line -- saying that President RooseYelt and Pri■• Minister Churchill plan to aeet late in January. They will get together somewhere in Britain, and then will move on to aoae other meeting place for talks with Stalin; so says London tonight. President Rooaevelt says tbia country need• a •work-or-fight• law. At the White Bouae le•• Conference today be endorsed the general idea of legislation to coapel aen · ei tber to join the araed forces or get buay at war jobs. The President said be wouldn't diacuas poaaible detail• of a •••I• work-or-fi1bt la• - theae ••• ahould be left to Con1re1a. Today we have an account of bo w the F.B.I. got on the trai l of the two lazi s p ies, the arrest of whom was announced last ni g ht. We have the ator1 fro ■ a high school boy at Hancock Point, Maine. Be was the one who gave the F.B.I. the firat clue - and the clue •as a trail indeed, footprint• in the snow. Harvard Merrill Hodgkins writes hia own story tor the United Presa, and relates how on the night of Roveaber ninth he was at a dance - and it began to snow at about eleven o'clock, a regular blizzard, coaing down hard. Harvard Hodgkins thought he had better be getting home, and started to drive. Be waa rolling along in his car when he aaw two figures in the road coaing toward hi ■ - two aen. He pulled over so that they could pass him, and noted that their clothes · weren't right for the coast of Maine in winter. They wore regular citified topcofts, while a leather lumberjacket is the suitable thing for a snowstorm in Maine. Sflll - 2 Bar ard Hodgkins wondered A bit, and kept driving on. He could see the footprints of the two aen plainly in the ano. The trail led on for about a hundred yards, and then be noted that the footprint• turned off into the woods. The t•o aen n ith the topcoats had co e out of the forest - which aeeaed odder than ever to Harvard Hodgkins. •Everybod7,• the bo7 relate,, •Bad been thinking about spies landing along the coa1t, and I got to thinking th>1e two ■en aigbt be up to 1o ■e funny business. So when I••• the track• in the woods,• he goes on, •1 stopped the car and walked a little way.• Be followed the footprints, and they led through the woods, to the nearby shore. That wae where the trail began, on the ano• covered beach. The two aen must have come in by boat - on that 1nowy •inter night. The high school boy was certain no• that something mighty funny was goine on - probably spies. Be went hoe and re orted what be had seen. His father - 3 is a ~ er i ff, • o os t o tiae in getting the •or to the F.B . . J. E t r a oo•er'• aen cheeked aa4 b t egan •• foot riot• in the ano•. he trail eode ith tbe arre t of the t•o • t ies - one of •boa ia a Qati•• boro aericao n a r r er aa or of the United Stat•• laY1. President RooaeYelt this afternoon indicated that the two spies would be tri e d by a apecial ■ ilitary tribunal. Thia follows the precedent 1et in the case of the lazi 1aboteura earlier in the ar. A, They were tried by a •i;eial ■ ilitary tribunal, and six were electrocuted. Speaking of the capture of the spies, the President handed high praise to the r.B.I., saying that J. Edgar BooYer•aan bad diatinauiahed tbeaaelTea in hunting down the apiea. ~RITISH_CBITICIS~ A good deal of attention was attracted by a British Editorial of last week, an editorial that criticized the United States. The influential weekly called •The Economist•, charged that A ■ erioana were saying unfair things about Great Britain - •Grieviou1l7 unfair•, declared the economist. And it ■ poke of, what it called - •Postures of superiority• on the part of the Americana. That criticis ■ over ' there waa criticized over here, and now we have soae aore of the sa ■e sort of thing, - over there - this ti ■• in the Yorkshire Poat, which is supposed to express the views of Foreign Secretary An~bony Eden. The Yorkshire Post is owned by the faaily, of the Foreign Secretar7'• wife. That newspaper today criticizes America for preaching what it calls •smug sermons on Britain's duty.• And it goes on to d&mand that this country male a frank statement of •hat it is willing to do in establishing a European settleaent. •we do not," says the Yorkshire Post, ••ind 2- fil!lllfilLQBltl~l~M - 2 being lectured by the Aaericans, ithin reason - since it is an old American custom. But we want to know bow far we can rely on thea in the future aaintenance of peace and of world trade for the good of all.• And then the newspaper, which is supposed to reflect the views of Foreign Secretary Anthon7 Eden, goea on to admit candidly that relation• b~tweea the United States and Great Britain have become - .. .., difficult. •Indeed.• aays the Yorkshire Poat, •Tbat e~jective i& much too ■ ild.• That's the kind of Yorkshire pudding diehed out today by the Yorkshire Post. ~~ ~-w-e4-~ 4---tJt-::~ .:.z__ ~ -to ~ ~ ~ ¼ ~ ! At Boaton, Robert Sudhalter certainly ia tied up with the le• Year. He •a• born OD the firat of January, Eighteen Ninety Nine. He was ■ arried on lew Year'• Day, lineteen TNnty. And DOW the word ia that ye ■ terday he beoa ■ e a grandfather. Apparently he like• to beli~ thing• at the be1innin& -- The firat of tbe year. ~ -4. - .R- L(-1-- ~, LINDBERGH IIDNAPfl!9 Just ten years ago today, one of the moat famous trials in Aaerican legal history began - the trial of Richard Bruno Hauptmann, for the kidnappin1 and aurder of the Lindbergh baby. One of the ■oat prominent of the witnesses against Bauptaann waa Dr. John r. Condon, ■ ore often called - •Jafaie.• That••• a ps~udonya he used in contactiD1tba tidnapper. His te1tiaony did a lar1• part in aen4ln1 Bauptaann to the llectric Ohair. The strange coincidence is this: Toda7, exaot ten 7ear• to the da7 after the trial began, Jatai• di..a at the •I• ot eighty-~f~o:u~r~-:._--...:---------------__, COIFEREICI Froa ashington we ha•e an indication that a Rooae•elt-Churchill-Stalin meeting aa7 be held soon. The indication is fro ■ President Roosevelt, and is passed along to us bJ Senator Barkley of Ientuck7. At the lhite House toda7, Congressional leaders called on the President to talk things over -- preparing for the opening of the new Congress, •hioh con•enes toao row. lhen they eaerged froa the lbite Bouae, they ere buttonholed by reporters, and in tb• talk that followed, Senator Barkley said: •The indicated that soae tiae aoon --without stating the time or place -- be will aeet with Churchill and Stalin.• To which Congressaan McCor ■ ack of Masaachusaet quickly added: •Probably.• So we have the indication of a probability.